Year 2008 will indeed go down as one of the most historic one for the lovers of quality film music as it will be remembered as the year when Bollywood's most revered and talented and extremely choosy music director, of this era, A. R. Rahman bestowed upon his fans four superlative albums. Starting with Ashutosh Gowariker's magnum-opus JODHAA AKBAR followed by ADA - A WAY OF LIFE, Aamir Khan's JAANE TU... YA JAANE NA and the most recent one, Subhash Ghai's YUVVRAAJ. Needless to add that all these albums were classy and a hit with the patrons of good quality music, barring ADA- A WAY OF LIFE (commercially). His long term association with perfectionist actor, Aamir Khan has always brought out the best in Rahman (RANGEELA, LAGAAN, MANGAL PANDEY and RANG DE BASANTI) and naturally expectations assume humungous proportions as his last album, GHAJINI, makes it to the stands this year itself. The Tamil version of GHAJINI had some rocking music by the top music director of South India, Harris Jayaraj. And with music maestro, A.R.Rahman at the helm this time around, with help in the lyrical department from the new age lyricist, the intellectually brilliant Prasoon Joshi (their RDB was path breaking), things can only get better. So, without wasting time let us check out the GHAJINI audio.

Sonu Nigam's cupid struck humming and mandolin strums commence 'Guzarish' as he serenades the listeners, transporting them into a beautiful make belief romantic world, through this stunningly striking love ballad. Much like the signature tune of Rahman's last romantic track from the album, YUVVRAAJ ('Tu Meri Dost Hai') this love ballad too relies heavily on Sonu's haunting background hummings to create the subtle love effect. Here though, Sonu Nigam is the guest vocalist and is present only for the humming part, which is incorporated in the beginning, in between and also in the end. But don't be disappointed as Rahman's new favourite, Javed Ali ('Jashn-E-Bahara') holds fort quite strongly with his crackling strong vocals. Javed Ali is a revelation here, as in 'Jashn-E-Bahara' his vocals were quite base and deep to match Hrithik while here Javed's superb voice modulations are in sync with Aamir's perfect and smooth ones. Only his diction presents a minor problem which needs to be corrected. This propositioning number becomes super special because of Prasoon Joshi's lovely lyrics which are simple yet they are awesome, as there cannot be a better word than the urdu word, 'guzarish', meaning request to appear polite and polished . 'Bas ek haan ki guzarish, Phir hogi khushiyon ki barish, Tu meri adhuri pyaas pyaas, Tu aa gayi man ko raas raas, Ab to tu aa ja paas paas, Hai guzarish.' A proposal which cannot be turned down at any cost, such is the effect of the number. So all you guys in love go ahead, it's our 'guzarish' to propose to your beloved with this number this Valentine day and you sure will succeed. An excellent, in fact, a gem of a track from the maestro.

Suzanne is the female vocalist who has been entrusted with the next number, 'Aye Bachchu' . And the number is just right for Suzanne, as she has become a sort of an icon for the songs that require full of attitude, westernized singing. But we are forced to say that if this number was by Pritam, one would have rated it as passable but this comes from Rahman, the musical genius and so, it disappoints. Nothing, but the best is expected of the maestro. May be in his defense we can say that the song is a situational one but it is a let down nevertheless, specially after a cracker of a start in form of 'Guzarish'. Prasoon Joshi's lyrics though situational and apt still disappoint. Once again it's Prasoon, the lyricist of RANG DE BASANTI and TAARE ZAMEEN PAR, so obviously the level of expectancy is much higher. The recent number on this line that we heard was 'Oop Oop Cha' (DRONA) and 'Soniya'(KIDNAP).

Thankfully, Rahman and Prasoon are back to their best with the next track, 'Kaise Mujhe', a classy romantic composition that has a mesmerizing effect on the listeners. The beauty of the number lies in its very smooth, slow paced melody and the lovely musical arrangements in the background. The superb use of 'sitar', piano' lend an air of romance, a number that can be effectively be used in a candlelight dinner by a couple in love or even in ballroom dancing. This is true blue Rahman, the Rahman we all love and revere. And his counterpart, Prasoon Joshi who has always been a superb support too is in full flow. His poetic prowess is diligently brought to the fore through this lovely love ballad. 'Kaise mujhe tum mil gayee, Kismat pe aaye na yakeen' No 'tukbandi' (rhyming words), here. Of course the two singers Benny Dayal (after a splendid JAANE TU... and YUVVRAAJ) and Shreya Ghoshal need to be mentioned, as it is their combined superlative effort that makes this one an outstanding track, though it may not be universally appealing .

Next up is the hip hop 'Behka'. Rahman follows the path that so many others have successfully transgressed but he does not add the usual rap and reggae and synthesized musical addendums, like is the usual norm. Instead, he goes in for a flowing smooth melody. Karthik, the singer has been a permanent presence in many a previous Rahman number and here he is entrusted with this number and he fully justifies the faith shown in him. His vocals sound melodious, fresh and youngish and voice modulations are great. He has a superb control over his vocals and is quite comfortable in high pitches. The song acquires a slightly soft rock hue in between and the use of saxophone, trumpet and drums are great. The organ piece of the 'Guzarish' humming which is interwoven in between is absolutely mind-blowing. However the 'talking antara' is a bit of a letdown, as it comes like an anti climax, thankfully it is curtailed and the smooth melody takes over. The number has been picturised well with the six different looks of a young and good looking Aamir, though one wished he had danced more as the rhythm did allow it. After listening to the whole number one comes to a conclusion that there is a definite hook of 'Main Aisa Kyun Hoon' (LAKSHYA) but wonder whether this is intentional or just incidental.

Next up is the new nightingale of India, Shreya Ghoshal, and it appears that her wish for singing hip hop happening numbers has come true in the form of 'Latoo'. Shreya is a surprising choice indeed and she does a very fine job. In fact at times it’s difficult to even recognize her voice as she shows her versatility and capability to sing even these types of numbers and carries it well. However Rahman could have gone in for Sunidhi, who is more adept at rendering such songs. The Afro-Asian beats gel well with the Western hip hop ones and this racy, pulsating dance track will look good on screen especially with the beautiful Jiah or Asin dancing to its rhythmic beats. Although the song on the whole is not truly befitting of the great Rahman and Prasoon combo.

Some haunting and mysterious sounding music and superb relaxed piano beats commence the 'Kaise Mujhe-Instrumental'. The paino beats are followed by some nice flute pieces of the 'antara' and so the instrumental does not get monotonous. Shreya Ghoshal's melodious croonings as well as the soft soothing chorus is delightful and one does not need words to enjoy this beautiful soothing piece which does have a calming effect on the listeners. The instrumental ends with the same mysterious synthesized piece.

When we had seen and heard the promo of 'Guzarish', the first song from GHAJINI, our expectations had soared sky high. Right from the romance oozing composition to the still youngish Aamir, romancing the beautiful south sensation Asin, everything looked just perfect. Even 'Behka' and its cute naughtiness caught on quite early. Unfortunately, the follow up numbers, barring to an extent 'Kaise Mujhey' are a huge letdown. Any of the leading present composers and GHAJINI audio would have been called good. But since it’s a Rahman-Prasoon album and for Aamir, we are pained to say that it’s a let down. And sadly, that is the kind of feedback we are getting from most of the Rahmaniacs, more so after the magnificent YUVVRAAJ!